ASU football looks to improve rush defense, cut down on turnovers

Arizona State has two major points of emphasis entering Tuesday’s start of fall camp: eliminating turnovers and improving its rush defense.

The first is held over from last season, but the latter might ultimately decide ASU's early season success. After opening against lower-division Sacramento State, the Sun Devils play Wisconsin, Stanford and Notre Dame over the next four weeks, opponents coach Todd Graham called "a very different animal" with power offenses that use multiple tight ends.

Last season, ASU's defense excelled in several areas, but rushing defense wasn't one. The Sun Devils allowed 182.9 yards per game, ranking 10th in the Pac-12 and 81st nationally. Wisconsin, Stanford and Notre Dame last season all ranked in the Top 50 in rushing offense.

"The No. 1 thing is having depth and being able to hold up,'' Graham said Friday during a media event. "The other thing is just size. One of the things I'm excited about is we are bigger. All the guys that are here are bigger, faster and stronger. We used (All-American defensive tackle) Will (Sutton) as an example. He's 305 pounds and 90 days stronger in the weight room. I don't know how many guys we have that power cleaned over 300 pounds. We've never had a group like this that has developed like they have."

High expectations

The Sun Devils this week were left out of the USA Today preseason Top 25 poll, but they still picked up 51 points, which would put them 32nd. Graham isn't concerned about preseason publicity, but he's sure about this: He likes this team.

"I've got a great feeling about where we're at because of the character and how we've developed,'' he said. "I don't believe there's anybody in our program that I can look at that has not gotten better, and that (includes) the mental aspect as well as the physical aspect of it. .. And obviously, these guys are pretty talented. It's the most talented football team I've ever coached. We got a chance."

Young decision

Senior Chris Young will get first crack at replacing Brandon Magee at weak-side linebacker -- a position he played during spring practice -- but he may not stay there. Young played well last season at ASU's "spur" position, and Graham wonders if it might be best to build off that experience and leave him there.

"Chris is up to 240 pounds,'' Graham said. "And he's really never trained the way he's trained right now. (Young was listed at 220 entering last season.) We have Brandon Magee to replace at that WILL linebacker and (Young) is probably the best candidate to do that, but he has a lot of experience out there at spur, so right now we'll start him out at WILL linebacker and we'll see how it goes."

Young last season produced 14 tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks from the spur (defensive back-linebacker) position. With him starting camp at WILL, redshirt-freshman Carlos Mendoza will get first crack at spur. Other options at WILL include junior-college transfer Antonio Longino, Mendoza and senior Grandville Taylor.

Primetime TV

The Pac-12 on Thursday selected ASU along with California as the featured teams for "The Drive," a 14-part docu-series that will run all season on the Pac-12 Networks. The show promises "all-access," which might make some coaches nervous, but not Graham.

He has done similar projects during his time at Tulsa and Pittsburgh, and he imagines this experience will be the same. Plus, he's a big fan of "Hard Knocks," the HBO show that follows an NFL team each preseason.

"We go by the rules here, and we have great people,'' Graham said. "To have a 30-minute show each week about our players and this program is to me a no-brainer. But it won't be a distraction. ...There are great stories on this team. We have great team unity. I think it's neat."

Freshmen kickers

ASU will open camp with freshmen Zane Gonzalez and Matt Haack handling the field-goal and punting duties.

"People ask me about that: But I got a lot of confidence in Matt and I got a lot of confidence in Zane,'' Graham said. "The guys that are here (junior kickers Alex Garoutte and Jon Mora) have gotten better, but we got two really talented guys coming in. Zane and Matt are really talented, and I think they can handle it. We'll see. It's something I probably should be more worried about than I am."

ASU was 15 of 23 on field goals last season.

Briefly

*Graham said the offensive line might be ASU's thinnest position group, but adds that he has seven quality players capable of breaking into the starting group. "Those guys have gotten better,'' Graham said. "They're stronger, they're more explosive. I'm looking for great things out of them."

*Junior-college transfers Jaelen Strong (receiver), Damarious Randall (safety) and Eriquel Florence (linebacker) still have not been cleared, but ASU is confident they all will be soon. Strong -- expected to start -- has a good chance to participate when practice starts Tuesday.

Posting a comment to our website allows you to join in on the conversation. Share your story and unique perspective with members of the azcentral.com community.

Comments posted via facebook:

► Join the Discussion

Join the conversation! To comment on azcentral.com, you must be logged into an active personal account on Facebook. You are responsible for your comments and abuse of this privilege will not be tolerated. We reserve the right, without warning or notification, to remove comments and block users judged to violate our Terms of Service and Rules of Engagement. Facebook comments FAQ

Join thousands of azcentral.com fans on Facebook and get the day's most popular and talked-about Valley news, sports, entertainment and more - right in your newsfeed. You'll see what others are saying about the hot topics of the day.